First Impressions: Ontario Black Wind Katana

[Phil Elmore]

I purchased the BSW-1 katana for use in a project I have ongoing. This is a fairly no-nonsense blade -- epoxy-coated 1095 steel with a 20" blade and 10" paracord-wrapped handle. The wrap feels solid (though I expect it to come loose with use) and the sword has a functioning edge out of the box. Fit in the Kydex sheath is pretty good, though I could do without the loose Nylon belt loop at the top of the sheath. Weight is not bad and the whole thing moves fairly handily, though the handle is too thin to be truly comfortable (that's the limitation of this design). At 30" this feels more like a short sword than a katana, but I have always preferred shorter swords anyway.

 

[James Green Dragon]

Phil, I like the dimensions of that blade but have never handled one - rumor has it that it is more blade heavy than it should be to have a 'lively' feel though...?

What do you think?

Speaking of 'handling', it would be pretty easy to 'customize' a new handle for it would it not? That might help with the imbalance thing too, depending on what is used / how much weight it adds (and whether or not its just a rumor).

Thanks,

James

 

[Phil Elmore]

I'll have to pick it up and see where the point of balance is when I get home tonight. I think that it probably does lean a little to the blade, though I did not have any problems with it because it is so short and relatively small. I'm a large guy so I don't usually have any issues with sword weights that bother other people, though if I'm not careful I'll end up torquing my wrists if I train for too long.

 

[Phil Elmore]

The point of balance is about 4 inches above the guard -- or roughly two inches shy of the halfway point when you measure from the "pommel" to the tip of the blade. This makes sense, when you consider the fact that it's a single sheet of steel with an enlargement at the "pommel" end and another enlargment to form the integral guard. It is, therefore, significantly blade-heavy, but becuase the overall weapon is short and not very heavy itself, I didn't find this to be a problem.

 

[James Green Dragon]

Excellent assessment - I appreciate you're making note of where the balance point is in reference to the halfway mark - thanks Phil.

 

[Phil Elmore]

My only fear is that I may not have measured exactly right -- I was balancing the sword and my tape measure and it was very early in the morning.

 

[Ilovetoolsteel]

I purchased the BSW-1 katana for use in a project I have ongoing. This is a fairly no-nonsense blade -- epoxy-coated 1095 steel with a 20" blade and 10" paracord-wrapped handle. The wrap feels solid (though I expect it to come loose with use) and the sword has a functioning edge out of the box. Fit in the Kydex sheath is pretty good, though I could do without the loose Nylon belt loop at the top of the sheath. Weight is not bad and the whole thing moves fairly handily, though the handle is too thin to be truly comfortable (that's the limitation of this design). At 30" this feels more like a short sword than a katana, but I have always preferred shorter swords anyway.

If it is like any of the other black wind products the cord wrap will have some adhesive under it. (the cord will still come loose) but it will also have a couple of holes in the handle. You could if you wished use these to fasten some wooden or micarta slabs to the handle and have a reasonable sized secure grip.You could even do a cord wrap over the handle material.


Drew

 

[Phil Elmore]

I figure I'll just re-cord it after the original cord comes loose (as I fully expect it to do). I could affix handle slabs to it, but that kind of ruins its super-simple design.

 

[mbkco]

You could probally use a resin sealer which should afix it more or less permently...not sure what to use, but I'd check with one of the makers that does cord wrapped/resin impregnated hilts.